COLUMBUS, Ohio -- I watched Ohio State football fans scream vile insults at players as they left the field Saturday following a fourth straight loss to Michigan.
I watched family members hear those insults and fight back, standing up for their children who've been programmed to just ignore it and look the other way. I watched fans screaming, "I hate you," at head coach Ryan Day and, "Fix it, Ross," at athletic director Ross Bjork. I watched as chaos insulated on the field in the aftermath, while Day watched in probably just as much shock as I was.
Yesterday wasn't fun.
Not the disappointment of a game where Day and Chip Kelly seemed to essentially tuck their tails with a game plan that felt like they were playing not to lose instead of trying to win. Not the postgame antics by the people on the field or in the stands. And certainly not the postgame press conference where players were forced to stand at a podium with tears in their eyes apologizing for coaching malpractice.
None of it was fun. But is anybody having fun?
Are players who have no problem saying in a not-so-joking joking way that they know that everybody thinks they stink whenever things don't go right?
Are fans having fun rooting for a team where negativity has often become the default mentality because the Buckeyes keep setting this standard of "Natty or Bust?"
Are we in the media having fun when we don't allow fans or players to enjoy the moment because wins are a reason to nitpick, close wins are a reason to ask if it's time to panic, and losses mean the sky is falling and people should lose their jobs?
Maybe people should lose their jobs this time around. There's a good chance Day has spent the past four years gradually losing the fan base.
Maybe players in his program have been noticing that loud, but small group of the fan base active over social media for years that it's started to get to them, hence the "Woody vs. the World" concept that was born heading into the 2022 Peach Bowl.
But yesterday wasn't social media. That was raw emotion from a fan base that's clearly hit its tipping point. You can tell a player to block negative energy online, but what happens when it's directly in their face as they walk off the field and parents yell back to "be a better fan and support them?"
Ohio State lost more than just a game yesterday. The program lost the fans, and the fans lost a reason to keep playing nice.
I had our Buckeye Talk Subtext subscribers answer this question with a simple "Yes" or "No," providing only extremes to see which way people were leaning:
Is being an Ohio State football fan still fun?
63% are still leaning "Yes." Maybe that percentage goes up in 20 days when the Buckeyes are playing in a College Football Playoff game, especially if it's at Ohio Stadium. I asked our Texters about their excitement about that idea, and most said they weren't excited right now, but maybe they would be by Dec. 20.
That date feels like it's a lifetime from now. I don't know how this fan base or this program moves on from what happened yesterday.
"I'm not there right now quite honestly," Day said after the game. "Still trying to digest everything that just happened. I've got a locker room full of guys who are just devastated."
But they have to. This is already the worst possible way this season could've gone. Neither side can afford to make things any worse.